Using Flight Director

Boris Badenov said:
Heh, just had my .297. We did a backcourse and for some reason the autopilot kept turning the wrong way, like it was a regular localizer approach. Well, naturally I killed the A/P, reached up, turned off the FD, and flew the approach rather neatly if I do say so myself with green needles and my hands. Circled to land, put it in the touchdown zone, and made the first turnoff. I looked over at the CCE, expecting praise for reacting quickly and saving the approach. He was frowning. To his credit, he didn't give me any flack then, but in the debrief, he said something like "good ride, but don't be so quick with turning things off". WTF?
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Ditto. WTF?

We've seen what automation dependency can lead to, and people are still being chastised for going raw data? I suppose this guy also thinks you should try and maintain altitude during a stall recovery...
 
Chief Captain said:
Ditto. WTF?

We've seen what automation dependency can lead to, and people are still being chastised for going raw data? I suppose this guy also thinks you should try and maintain altitude during a stall recovery...
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Well, in defense of my particular check airman, he cautioned ME against doing the "jet recovery" because I got a shaker for a secondary by trying to "jet" out of the initial stall (old habits die hard, etc). And he was pretty gentle about the reproach. This particular guy, I think, was just going by the Book and seems to be a pretty great aviator. But, yeah, in general, I think there's way too much focus on "using the automation correctly" rather than "arriving alive". *shrug*
 
Agreed on the focus on automation. When I started my type rating, I had to beg to hand fly the sim instead of use the AP.
 
Chief Captain said:
Agreed on the focus on automation. When I started my type rating, I had to beg to hand fly the sim instead of use the AP.
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I would say that's justified, though. When you're getting a type rating, the importance is on ensuring that you understand the airplane and its systems, not on verifying your flying competency. It's assumed that someone else has already verified that during your Comm or ATP ride. I wouldn't let someone hand fly for a type rating course, either.
 
ATN_Pilot said:
not on verifying your flying competency.
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My sense has always been that any check airman's first concern should be your "flying competency". Ie. "This guy isn't going to crash this airplane". Automation is nice, and of course you should know how to use it. But when the rubber meets the road and everything has gone pear-shaped, "some peckerwood has to take the beast up, and some peckerwood has to...LAND the sonofabitch. And that peckerwood is called...a PILOT". Apologies to Pancho Barnes.
 
Boris Badenov said:
My sense has always been that any check airman's first concern should be your "flying competency". Ie. "This guy isn't going to crash this airplane". Automation is nice, and of course you should know how to use it. But when the rubber meets the road and everything has gone pear-shaped, "some peckerwood has to take the beast up, and some peckerwood has to...LAND the sonofabitch. And that peckerwood is called...a PILOT". Apologies to Pancho Barnes.
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Gentleman, thank you all for the incredible amount of response to my simple question. UPDATE; Checkride Passed! FD, used 30% during CR, leaving the great state of FL and back to SOCAL. For those that did not read my entire posts, I am not going to or planning on fyling for pay. I will use the FD on any plane that I happen to rent in the future. There are many if not more CFII that teach the use of the FD and strongly believe it helps in muscle memory when flying IFR. I can attest to that. Best to everyone and regardless of differences, I am impressed by the determination and ability it takes to reach the level of flying for pay!
 
ATN_Pilot said:
I would say that's justified, though. When you're getting a type rating, the importance is on ensuring that you understand the airplane and its systems, not on verifying your flying competency. It's assumed that someone else has already verified that during your Comm or ATP ride. I wouldn't let someone hand fly for a type rating course, either.
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When I was going through FlightSafety last year, my reaction whenever things were getting weird was just to click off HAL and fly the airplane, enter NAVAIDs manually, etc.

One of the instructors froze the sim, crawled up front, and said, "look, I am not here to teach you to fly. I know you can all ready fly, otherwise you would not be sitting here. I'm here to teach you how to fly this airplane, and if you keep turning off all of the tools this airplane has, that sort of defeats the purpose...."
 
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